It seems that having a weapon that entitles the throne of Mandalore and that it feels like winning in combat is going to give Din Djarin quite a bit of work.
Spoilers for Chapter 5 of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’
It’s somewhat ironic that the best episode of ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ was one that shifted the focus… away from Boba Fett himself. The title of Episode 5, “Return of the Mandalorian,” basically says it all: the entire episode follows Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) after Season 2 in the time after his little friend Grogu/Baby Yoda has left for Jedi training with Luke Skywalker. Mando (Din, but we’ll call him Mando from now on) has returned to the kind of bounty hunter work for hire that he was doing at the beginning of the series, only now he has the Darksaber, and should theoretically be the ruler of everything. Mandalore.
Much to take on! But he will not give up. After an (extremely rough) opening battle in which Mando cuts his bounty hunter target in half and takes his head in a sack (“I can take you hot or cold”, and he chose cold). Eventually, our man takes the check from him and finds some signs that lead him to a secret undercover where the Armorer and Paz Vizsla, fellow Mandalorians, have survived. They discover that Mando has earned the Dark Saber, and Paz in particular is curious. According to the Mandalorian creed, the owner of the sword changes only by winning it in combat. That is, of course, how Mando got it from the evil Moff Gideon in ‘The Mandalorian’ season 2. Mando wins in combat, but when he reveals to the Armorer that he has removed his helmet, she banishes him, unless he can get to the lake mines on Mandalore (which, well, have been destroyed) to redeem himself.
After their climactic duel, and Mando seemingly being cast out of the Mandalorian creed (at least temporarily), he returns to Tattoine, where he meets Peli (Amy Sedaris), who introduces him to his new vehicle. The ship, an N1 Naboo Starfighter that needs quite a bit of DIY work, but is nothing they can’t tackle together. After a risky test flight, Mando is in a good mood, just in time for the story to coincide with where we were headed last week, with Fennec Shand and Boba Fett needing his help. But, first, he wants to check on a little friend (and we all know he’s our old friend Grogu aka Baby Yoda aka The Kid aka everyone’s f***ing favourite).
But before we get to all of that, let’s take a closer look at the most exciting part of the episode: that Mandalorian duel and the battle over the Dark Saber.
Who is Paz Vizsla? Have we seen it before?
Paz Vizsla is in ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ but we actually first met him in ‘The Mandalorian’ season 1 once Mando went to the underground deck (remember, these were surviving Mandalorians who made it out of their destroyed planet). We can remember the most prominent appearance of her in the episode “The Sin”, when she got into a fight with Mando when he brought his Beskar’s bounty (from the Imperial client played by Werner Herzog) to La Armorera; Paz thought that working with someone aligned with the Empire was a cowardly move. The Armorer finally reassured them, reminding them of “The Way”.
Later in that episode, the Bounty Hunter’s Guilt (led by Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) before he went back to being a good guy) tried to kill Mando and take Grogu; Paz and the rest of the Mandalorians arrived to help and stop them, allowing Mando to escape on the Razor Crest.
However, as a result of helping Mando escape with the child, the remaining Imperial forces discovered the hideout and severely damaged it; the only ones who survived were Paz and La Armera. We’ll catch up with both of them in ‘The Boba Fett Book.’
‘The Book of Boba Fett’ Became a Mix of ‘The Last Showdown’ and ‘The Mandalorian’
‘The Book of Boba Fett’ episode 5 shifts the focus to our old friend Mando, showing us how he’s doing after losing his little friend to Luke Skywalker’s training at the end of ‘The Mandalorian’ season 2. Response? He’s not doing very well, but he keeps going.
After an introductory bounty job, Mando is left with a severely bloody leg from the encounter. So, after collecting some credits on the head, he follows some signs and discovers that La Armera and Paz Vizsla are alive and well; they are happy to see him too, and the Armorer tells Paz to use Bacta Spray to help Mando heal.
Mando apologizes for what happened with Nevarro (despite all his brutal tendencies, he’s still a good guy), and Paz accepts it; now that there are only three left they must continue to rebuild the Mandalorians. However, she wonders how Mando got this deep cut, and Mando tells them both that he went for the Dark Saber, which he won by defeating Moff Gideon in combat. Now they know that he should technically rule them and all of his kind.
This creates instant tension; Paz says that Gideon deserved death for his actions that led to the deaths of millions of Mandalorians. Mando says that he is currently on trial, and when that is proven to be true, he will face the same fate. Paz and the Armorer instantly don’t seem to agree.
We also learn that the Dark Saber was created by one of Paz’s ancestors, Tarre Vizsla, who was both a Mandalorian and a Jedi. When Paz saw that Mando was not adapting well to the weapon, she came and insisted that he should be the one to wield it; it comes from his ancestry, after all. Mando accepts the duel.
Just like Ridley Scott’s ‘The Last Showdown’, these two warriors fight almost to the death. At one point or another, they both wield and swing the saber, not knowing 100% how to use it properly (while it’s clearly a powerful weapon that can cut people in half, it’s also heavy and leaves you susceptible to quick attacks) .
The battle concludes when Mando is a bit faster than Paz and grabs him by the throat before the armorer ends the fight. However, he clearly felt that something had changed; when he asks the two if they had removed their helmets, Paz says no, while Din tells the truth: yes (and honestly, thank goodness he did, because we love seeing Pedro Pascal under there). The armorer rejects Din, saying that he is no longer a Mandalorian, and Paz calls him an “apostate”.
Mando leaves, with the darksaber and a new piece of Beskar armor for his collection, albeit as a gift to Grogu. He has won the duel, but has been cast out of the only way of life he has ever known. This story will surely continue.
Source: Fotogramas
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
